This case describes a CLA approach in a highly conflict-affected region of northern Myanmar between 2013-16. A CLA approach was desirable in this area because it has highly fluid security, political, and humanitarian dynamics, and because access is restricted to international actors, and requires that all interventions are based on local knowledge and agency. The challenge that this case addressed was how local communities can sustainably drive their own peacebuilding and development outcomes with minimal international support, and in the midst of unpredictable and changing local dynamics. Using a methodology developed specifically for locally led change in complex environments – Systemic Action Research (SAR) – a consortium of local organisations designed and implemented activities that directly benefited more than 17,000 people and achieved several notable firsts, including the first ever provision of mine risk education to internally displaced people in this area, the introduction of anti-drug messaging in school curricula, legislative changes away from punitive and towards rehabilitation strategies for drug users, and the initiation of a track 2 dialog forum to support Myanmar’s peace process. Continuous learning, pause and reflect, and adaptive management processes as part of SAR formed the backbone of this initiative, which generated considerable insights for Adapt Peacebuilding, and lessons learned to share with the global peace and development communities. Lessons learned concerned factors that enable CLA approaches, as well as inhibitors, principally related to trust and uncertainty, which strain relations with donors and partners, and can constrain impact.

This article argues that the distinctions we make in peacebuilding masks a messier, highly interdependent reality that we need to honestly engage with. We argue for a more holistic, systems view, and present three case studies of explicitly systemic peacebuilding strategies from Myanmar and Thailand. Reflection on these case studies offers insights for systemic theories of change, including engaging multiple parts of the system in parallel, rewiring relationships within the system, balancing adaptation and control, and building trust with donors to balance risk.

A significant sub-system within the system relates to tensions between different religious and/or ethnic communities resulting from a lack of trust and positive interaction.

There are four important feedback loops which constitute this sub system. The first (R10) , is characterized by the fact that hate speech against Muslims (that employs stereotypes of Muslims as violent) reinforces the perception among non-Muslims that Islam is an inherently violent or aggressive religion. This perception in turn leads people to interpret social or inter-personal conflicts or crimes as religious conflicts (since they assume that Muslims are more likely to be aggressors and/or Islam to be incompatible with other religions). This contributes to the perception that religious conflict is rife, that Islam per se is the cause of the conflicts and/or that non-Muslims are at risk from attack by Muslims, which often results in hate speech against Muslims…

This work was produced and distributed ahead of the May 2017 national dialog process of Myanmar's peace process. Based on international comparative evidence drawn from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies Peace Accords Matrix, the animation addressed contemporary peacemaking challenges in Myanmar.

This presentation, hosted by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, explores the current state of peacebuilding in Myanmar as it relates to the peace process, intercommunal violence in the country's west, and the role of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It draws distinctions between the appearance of change and much deeper conservative forces of military and political power that maintain the status quo. Effective peacebuilding requires more attention to these deeper forces and their interaction with more visible political and conflict dynamics.

In this interview by Meredith Smith, Stephen Gray talks about recent work in Myanmar and his extensive experience in the conflict resolution field, sharing stories, insights and career advise for current students and aspiring peacebuilders.

A performance during the opening ceremony of the first 21st Century Panglong Conference in Nay Pyi Taw, August 2016. (Theint Mon Soe aka J | Frontier)

The 21st Century Panglong Conference represents an important milestone in Myanmar's long march to peace. But it is only one step in a much longer process to end to the violence that has long limited this country's great potential...The pathway forward is outlined in a framework for political dialog that has been negotiated following 2015's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.